Karachov Kazak Double-Niche Prayer Rug with human and animal depictions
270 x 141 cm (8' 10" x 4' 8")
Caucasus, ca. 1880
Condition: very good, full pile, partially corroded dark brown, one small repair in the middle of the lower border, one small fold in the upper red field
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

This variety of Karachov rug which is long and narrow rather than square is sometimes referred to is it double niche prayer rug, because of the use of two apparent prayer arches at either ends of the field. It is probably more likely that this is simply a keyhole design with little to do with prayer, a point that is perhaps corroborated in this at instance by the presence of so many animals and a person.
The rich dense pile and deeply saturated colours epitomise the best qualities of Kazak rugs that are admired by collectors and connoisseurs alike; the abrashed of the green ground is particularly pleasing. The prescence of 13 animals, two of which seemed to have escaped the enclosures of the red medallions and are left grazing across the green ground, are a bonus as is the presence of their owner who seems to sit at the top of the rug and proudly survey all that he owns below him.
It's worth pointing out how the weaver has partly outlined the internal borders of the two red medallions in similar colours to the prayer arch in order to add an element of visual continuity.